Sands of Tuchanka - REVISED
by Spyke1985
Summary: Totally revised version of this story. SI/AU, Ignores most of ME timeline. I go to sleep, and wake up as a krogan. Wait, WHAT? Craziness ensues. Things happen. Rated M for cussing and adult situations. Oh, and violence too. Lots of interesting adventures and culture shock city. If you like krogans, you'll love this. Enjoy! Update: New postings discontinued until further notice.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Totally redoing this. For science. Just like shirtless Garrus. **

**The TWO things I will mention about me before this starts up is this: I am female, and more than old enough to drink in the USA. I've learned my lesson on showing, not telling. Thanks Atreyu429. :) And thank him in your reviews, it's due to his honest criticism that I finally woke up and decided to redo this as it SHOULD have been done in the first fucking place. He's also my Beta for this, so yeah, kiss his ass if you like the new, very much improved version. :P lol... Mordinette is also my beta(as well as a spectacular writer), she helped catch many of the past/present-tense issues that I ALWAYS miss, so thanks to her for her wonderful help!**

**Disclaimer: If you recognize it, Bioware owns it. I make no money from this, blah, blah, blah. **

**Stuff it, Bioware! The end of ME3 SUCKED! Fix it!** **Ok, I'm done. :D**

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I am exhausted.

I've been up for three days, writing fan fiction for Mass Effect romances, as has become my normal activity of late. I keep falling asleep on my futon out on the porch, iPod in hand, a half-finished chapter scrawled out in the note program. I decide to admit defeat when I wake up sweating, the mid-morning sun blazing through the windows at me, cooking my body as I lay on the black futon mattress.

I wearily get up and head inside, a cold blast of air conditioning hitting me as I open the door, as if I have just walked into an arctic tundra. I fan my shirt, drawing the cold air in beneath it and along my upper body, providing a cooling ecstasy to my overheated skin.

I close the door and head into the bedroom, stopping at my desk to check my email for the fiftieth time that day, and finding no new messages for once. Freaky. Guess the world finally realized it's time for me to sleep. I take my glasses off and lay them on the desk, before stripping down to nakedness so I can finally crawl into bed. I adjust the pillows and blanket until my nest meets my approval, and I flop down, letting sleep find me as quickly as it can.

I soon find myself in the realm of dreams, strange monsters chasing me, always escaping from them just as they're about to get a hold of me. It's a commonly recurring dream for me, there's always something out to get me, as if I were someone important.

It has always seemed a little odd to me, considering my life so far has been far from eventful. I've never felt as if it were really me being chased in the dream; rather, it was some part of me I couldn't identify, couldn't reach. Despite being constantly chased in these dreams, I somehow managed to sleep quite well during them; as if my spirit felt right being chased. I allow myself to settle into the dream, such a familiar place, though the faces are always different, always strange and alien to me.

My normal nightmare suddenly shifts, and the view changes to the very realistic sight of me, laying in my bed, asleep. I blink and look down at my body, _'this is... New. I don't think I've ever dreamed this before.'_ I look around, noticing nothing out of the ordinary, aside from the fact that I'm watching myself. Outside of myself. Panic starts to wind its icy fingers around my mind as my thoughts spin out of control. _'Am I dead? No. NO! I have so much more to do! My life hasn't even started yet!'_ I watch my resting body and the panic suddenly stops. I see myself breathing.

_'Wait, not dead? Then, what is this?'_ I look down at... Well, myself, from this new perspective, and note that I am but a wisp of my former self, a glowing, ethereal form of my normal body. Realization slowly dawns on me as to what's going on. _'I'm... in the spirit world? But why? If I'm not dead, there's no reason for me to be here.' _I look back up at my body with confusion lining my... Spirit's face. A light rustling sound behind me catches my attention, and I whirl in an about face to find the source.

A woman with glowingly white skin, dressed in a long, flowing, sleeveless dress smiles at me. She's the most gorgeous sight I've ever laid eyes on, more glorious than the hottest woman I've ever seen. As I look closer, I notice that she's not... Quite... Human. She has an amazing quality to her, as if she was the original, the blueprint for every possible race that could exist, while still maintaining a stunning beauty that I doubt anyone else in the universe could possess. I know if I live through whatever this new state of being is, my view of what beauty is would be forever jaded by this one memory.

Her voice - or rather voices, for she has many feminine voices that come together to form her one - as she finally speaks is like velvet and flowing waters, coursing together in an almost flanging effect to make a sound that my spirit thrills to; sending a surge of energy through me that would've no doubt lit my previous body on fire, had I still occupied it. "Welcome, child. I am here to guide you to your new life. You have a destiny far greater than your old body could provide for you. I will answer some of the questions you may have, but we must make haste. Your new life awaits."

She looks and sounds like every interpretation of a Goddess that I've ever heard of, all put into one form. I stare at her, trying to process her words as my spirit revels in her presence. As I finally absorb what she's saying, my mind clears, coming into focus, and replaying her statement; trying to comprehend the scope of her intentions. I shake my overwhelmed ethereal head as I slowly find my own voice. "New life?" I finally manage.

Her smile broadens and she nods encouragingly at me. "Yes, your new life. You have been chosen to represent a people you are already very familiar with, in a universe you have studied every detail of over the past few years. The life you have led so far was merely a holding place; a bookmark, if you will, until the time was right to put your soul in its true body, and let you fulfill your real life's purpose."

The shock that courses through me as I take in her words is palpable, tinging the air around me with a thick haze of confusion and uncertainty. As I focus once more, the most important question in my little universe comes to the front of my mind, and I blurt it out without thinking, "Who are you?"

Her smile grows into a light laugh as the air around us fills with her mirth, lights dancing around us in a happy little jig. The scene is so surreal that I'm overcome by the sheer force of it, and join in on her laughter. "I know you probably get asked that a lot, but I'd like to know, if it's all the same" I say, as I finally calm myself enough to speak clearly.

She nods, and replies with an airy tone, "Yes, I have heard that question many times. I've had several names, but the two you would know the best are Destiny, and Fate. Many have sought me, but few are fortunate enough to garner my personal touch. That you have been chosen is a great honor, and should not be taken lightly." her tone becomes more serious as she speaks, and the full gravity of the situation I face begins to sink in at last.

I am shocked, to say the least; stunned that Fate herself has intervened so suddenly in my life, of all lives. My life has been... Tumultuous, at best. I've grown up in a middle class military family, moving from place to place, very few friends, most of whom I've lost touch with... Nothing special. Then, when I was twelve, everything changed. I was forced to grow up very quickly, and my growth, both mentally and physically, was stunted until much later in life, when I finally worked through some of the issues I'd had forced upon me.

From the time I was twelve, until this... This event, life has been one disappointment after another. Nobody could be this unlucky in life, could they? Yes, of course they could; there were far worse cases than mine in this world, but there has been many times that I'd felt otherwise. This... This would change everything. Fate is standing before me, looking kindly on this poor, lost soul; gone astray like a dog that has been abandoned on the roadside. My dreams has always hinted that I am more than my life told me I was. This is my chance to prove it, and I desperately want to grab it and hold onto it like the lifeline I know it is.

I look at Fate, and take a step towards her as I speak, "Where am I going? Who are these people you talked about, this universe I'm supposed to have been studying? I don't remember reading any books about another culture recently."

She laughs again at my words, and I grin at the shift in the air as it comes this time, marveling at the sight. "You will know it when you see it, child. All will be revealed soon. We must go now, the time for your new life to begin has come" she smiles at me, offering her hand to me.

I take it, and my world, my life, everything I have known, is left behind me; remembered, but no longer needed.

I wake suddenly, as I always do, all senses snapping into action, though my eyes are still firmly clamped shut; unwilling to admit to myself that yet another of my strange sleep cycles has ended. I lay there for several minutes like this, letting my body wake up fully, flexing my muscles one by one to get the blood flowing in them enough to get up and start another day. My mind races through the vision I saw just before waking... _'It must've just been a dream, after all. Well fuck.'_ Disappointed, I sigh, turning over as I always do; and am promptly met with a brief falling sensation, followed quickly by the floor.

This is my first indication that something is different, as I normally sleep in a queen sized bed, well to the side that is pushed against a wall. I should have had more than enough room to roll over and stretch some more. Groaning from the impact with the floor, I snap my eyes open, and try to focus them, blinking away the film that covered them as I slept.

I look around, bleary-eyed, as bewilderment quickly creeps its way into my features. I'm on my back, next to a cot which is shoved haphazardly against a wall, as if recently put there. I look around the room, and am met by the sight of a small concrete bedroom, a far larger bed than the cot I've fallen out of with furs on it the main central feature of the room. The walls are crudely decorated with what appear to be trophies from some alien source, but my eyes are still too blurred to see them clearly.

There is a large metal door, and a pair of horizontal slits in the tops of each wall that must serve as windows and light sources during daylight hours. As my eyes continue to clear and take in my surroundings, I see the only two things that look remotely familiar to me: a weapon rack full of guns, and a neon orange armor locker. I blink hard at this sight, trying to clear my eyes so I'm sure I'm not hallucinating. But there it sits, dimly glowing against the wall it's attached to.

Panic fills my mind as I take a few deep breaths, trying to stop the onset of hyperventilation. _'Oh. My. Gods. It wasn't a dream. Holy SHIT! Where am I? Why was I on a cot? Why am I on the floor? What the HELL is going on here?'_ I take in my surroundings again, trying to rationalize this sudden shift of location.

_'She said it would be a different life, a different place, a different people, universe, everything... Wait. Wait just a fucking second.'_ I look at the armor locker and gun rack with a bit more focus, trying to concentrate on the look of the weapons on the rack, specifically. _'No fucking way. This is impossible. This is NOT! POSSIBLE!'_

I recognize the guns with a great sense of dread, unmistakable in their design as weapons from the Mass Effect universe. My heart is racing a mile a minute as I look around the room again, trying to piece the rest of my location together. My eyes are drawn to a very familiar sight on one of the walls: a trophy plaque with a krogan skull on it. The dull red crest of the skull overshadows the empty eye sockets below it, staring down at me and striking fear in my heart, just as it was meant to.

I finally manage to rip my gaze away from the frightening sight, though I can still feel those empty sockets boring into the top of my skull as I lay there, eyes closed, trying desperately to keep myself from going into shock. _'It's ok, it's ok,'_ I think to myself, _'I've just been transported across Gods know how many light years, not to mention... Years... Oh Gods... How many years? What the hell, Fate? That's some preparation you gave me, oh, "you'll know it when you see it"! Sure! Yeah! I'll know the fucking MASS EFFECT UNIVERSE when I'm randomly dropped into it like a fucking meteor out of nowhere! THANKS for that really epic prep talk!'_

My eyes pop open, anger taking away any threat of shock as I stare at the ceiling, imagining I'm boring a hole through it with my glare alone.

I decide it's high time I got up off the floor to properly investigate this... Place I've been transported to, but as I reach my hand up to the side of the cot to grip it for assistance in rising, I freeze. My hand is much... Larger than I remember. And I have three fingers. Three _talon__-tipped_ fingers. My eyes widen with shock at the sight, and I move my hand in front of my face, turning it over several times and marveling at it, my eyes widening with dread at my discovery.

I dare to let my eyes wander to what I can see of the rest of my body, and the first thing I notice is my feet. My very large, three toed, taloned feet. I flex them experimentally, and find them to be surprisingly flexible. I stare, aghast at my six toes wiggling around like the alien appendages they are, my mind reeling with uncertainty at the shitstorm of information it's trying to process.

I run my right hand along my bare stomach, noting that my skin is leathery to the touch, and as my eyes travel to where my hand lay, I see my skin is the color of the dirt in the town I lived in, in my apparently previous life - a vibrant red with subtle earth tones. I cautiously bring my hands to my face, feeling the strong jaw, wide mouth, deep-set eyes, which I nearly poke with a talon as I feel my way up my face, and just above my eyes I feel... Ridges. Hardened leather, similar in formation to... Shock floods my mind as I realize what my hands are feeling... My ridges are similar to Grunt's undeveloped head ridges from Mass Effect 2; hard, but separated. I can't ignore the evidence, just like I can't ignore that I'm not in my room, or my own universe, anymore.

"I'm... A krogan." I murmur to myself. My voice is deeper, richer somehow. Not masculine, but it's definitely not the voice I'm used to. It's both soothing and dangerous at the same time, making my stomachs do a few flip-flops each. Yes, _stomachs_. Yet another change to deal with. "What the fuck?! A krogan?" I say, a little louder and more indignantly this time, testing my vocal range. It unnerves me even more as I hear my new voice a second time.

I'd expected maybe I would be a human that played some important role in this... Apparently very real universe, but a krogan? _'What the fuck? I mean, I figure this is Tuchanka, just from the room decorations, but actually being a krogan myself?'_ I can't wrap my brain around it. I shake my head, trying to make sense of this mess.

I look around once more, and realize that I need to get up off the floor. As much as I might want to lay here and wallow in my self pity and shock, I very much doubt this universe would allow me that luxury for long.

I try to stand up, gripping the cot for support, but the feet are beyond awkward. I try to get them under me enough to just stand straight up, but I only manage to fall on my ass. "OW!" I grimace in pain as I manage to flatten my tail - _'A tail? Why the fuck do krogans need tails again?' _- under me, forcing me to shift off of it, and placing me in an awkward position to try to stand from. "Well fuck. Now what?" I huff, embarrassment and frustration making my skin itch as I try to figure this shit out. I decide to try a different tactic, and roll over on my stomach. I lift my upper body in a pushup, and slowly bring my oddly jointed legs under me. I push up, and finally manage to stand, almost losing my balance as I straighten a little too quickly, but catching myself just in time. Amazingly.

Finally satisfied that I wasn't going to topple over, yet... I notice another krogan in the room, and just about jump out of my skin, barely containing the very un-krogan-like squeak that almost escapes me in my surprise. _'Wait a fucking second here'_... I move closer to the other krogan, suddenly realizing what I'm looking at, as the other krogan mimics my movements exactly. I widen my view and notice the edges of the mirror, the image in the mirror nodding in understanding as I finally move closer to actually see what I look like.

And for once, the surprise isn't completely unnerving. Or, at least, not completely panic-inducing. I'm hardly an expert on krogan ideals of what constitutes an attractive female, but to my untrained eyes, I look beautiful. For a krogan, at least. _'Holy shit, I still can't believe this. I'm actually a fucking krogan.'_ I think, gaping at my reflection in the mirror like an idiot.

My ridges and scales are jet black, my eyes a vibrant emerald green, and I apparently have an unmarred hide, no scars to speak of. Not even a bond mark. _'So, I'm a single, good-looking (I think) krogan female. Well, could be worse. I could've ended up as a vorcha.'_ I think to myself, shuddering at that thought, and still staring into the mirror, trying to accept that _this_ was real, and not just some extremely vivid dream.

I pinch myself, though it doesn't have quite the same effect as it used to, my thick hide feeling very little of the pain. I pinch myself harder, bringing those glorious talons into full use, feeling it quite a bit more, even jumping a bit as my talons almost pierce my leathery skin. "Ow! These fuckers are sharp! Man..." I rub the spot I've pinched ruefully as I continue my narcissistic observance of myself in the mirror.

My clothing is minimal, but quite ornate; a black base with fine red stitching that weaves intricate patterns all through the garment. _'At least it matches my coloring'_, I thought, then shook my head. "Wow, I get transported to a different universe, and I'm thinking about matching my outfit. Really, Spyke, really?" I shake my head again and snort derisively, turning my attention back to the outfit. It's basically an elaborate bikini/mini sarong combination, covering my private zones and not a whole lot else. This is when I notice that I have tits. Large ones. I place my hands under them gingerly, lifting them up and feeling the weight of them, marveling at how both similar and alien they are to what I had before.

I peek under my top to find that the top part of my breasts each has a black patch of very hard leather, not quite hard enough to be plates, but thicker than the rest of my softer skin. I also have nipples, which actually surprises me a bit. _'Didn't think krogans would have much use for tits or nipples. Interesting.'_

I turn to the side, trying to get a look at my back, and am oddly pleased to note that though I lack the characteristic male krogan hump across my shoulders - I actually grin at this discovery - , I do possess a lovely looking trail of shiny black plating that runs from the back of my head, down my spine, narrowing and coming to a fine point at the tip of my tail.

As my eyes are drawn to my tail, I'm suddenly struck with curiosity, deciding to investigate the range of movement in this new appendage, attempting to wag it like a dog, and finding that though it takes a bit of concentration, it is quite possible. I also note that it is a good bit longer than the male version, and seems to be mostly for balance, rather than the more canine activities I am currently engrossed by.

As my nose fully wakes up finally, I took a large whiff of the bedroom, and decide that it doesn't smell particularly wonderful, but I have a sneaking suspicion that these aren't my permanent quarters, so it doesn't really matter what it smells like. My eyes catch another glimpse of that damned krogan skull on the wall, and I cringe before looking away, still disturbed by the sight.

I decide I've had enough of this small room, and I open the big metal door a crack to peek outside. There's female krogan walking around everywhere, with an occasional male here and there escorting a female. _'Holy shit! I've gotta be on Tuchanka for this many females to be just walking around.'_ I close the door for a moment to contemplate this. I'm starting to wrap my brain around this whole thing, but it's really fucking hard, even with the overabundance of proof all around, just staring me in the face.

_'I'm on Tuchanka. I'm a krogan. This is real. Fuck me running sideways with a chainsaw on a ten foot pole!' _I shut my eyes tightly for a moment, taking in deep breaths, trying to find something close to calm-ish. I open my eyes and crack the door open again, peering out into the throng of krogans just walking around and going about their lives, as if that is a perfectly normal thing for them to be doing. '_Which is probably the case, considering I'm on fucking TUCHANKA! GAH!'_

I shake my head, taking another deep breath, and look out of the cracked door in earnest. _'If I'm here, I need to do my thing, which happens to be people-watching. Or in this case, krogan-watching. Bleh.' _Creepy skill to have? Probably. Really fucking useful skill to have? Definitely.

I notice that the younger looking females all have a similar outfit as mine on, though the older ones have more coverings. Or not. I notice a female that passes rather closely to the door in the heavier garb, and she looks very young. _'A bond mate thing then? Perhaps the more covering garments are worn after the female has a mate?' _I shrug at the thought, no way to know for sure without asking someone, and I am nowhere near mentally prepared enough to do that just yet.

A thought occurs to me that might put this whole thing into a whole new level of bad. _'Oh shit. I don't speak krogan! Or even common! Ohhhh fuuuuck. Not good.'_ Is it possible I could get away with pretending to be mute and deaf? Otherwise any krogan I talked to would have me made as an imposter right away. I turn my head to the side, aiming my ear canal at the crack in the door as I try to catch snippets of conversation, hoping I might be able to understand some of the words that were being said. I finally hear a female talking with a male walking beside her, in perfect English. My brow flies up in surprise at this, totally unsure of how to interpret that.

I close the door again to ponder this new information. _'I... Suppose it makes... Sense? I'm a bleeding krogan now, after all. It stands to reason that a krogan would be able to speak and understand krogan... Right?'_ I think about it for a minute, but it doesn't make any more sense than an algebra equation to me, so I just shrug it off before I break my already frazzled brain trying to sort it out properly.

I crack the door again, looking out beyond the krogans milling around, noticing the landscape and architecture surrounding them for the first time. _'Man, Tuchanka really is as much of a shithole as the game portrays it to be.' _There's nothing but sand, concrete buildings, and more sand, with some markings on the buildings that seem to indicate who lives there. The markings aren't writing, just patterns and colors in earth tones, mostly, with a few exceptions of more vibrant colors here and there. There's a few items scattered about, baskets and shovel-like objects, typical krogan camp style fare, as well as a few varren running around. And more sand. So much fucking sand.

All the buildings seem to be one-story, apparently krogans aren't big on heights. _'No wonder you don't see that many on the Citadel in the game, if that really is the case' _I think absently. _'I think I'm finally starting to calm down and accept all this insane shit. Then again, it's probably just my brain finally snapping and going into shock.' _I snort at this thought, shaking my head.

I don't have much time to consider it, as I notice a shorter male with plates the same color as my skin, and tan skin walking straight for the door I'm peeking through. _'FUCK! I'm not ready for this!'_ I quickly close the door, panicking, hoping he hasn't noticed, and run over to the cot, sitting down on it. I don't want to stand, thinking he might take it as a challenge, so I just sit there as he opens the door and enters the room.

_'Shit shit shit!' _He looks at me and raises his left brow. _'Fuck, he's looking at me! Aww fuck. Not ready!'_

"About time you woke up. I've been checking back every two hours, you've been asleep for eighteen hours." He says gruffly, as he sits down on the corner of the large bed, facing me and looking at me with his orange eyes. He's looking at me as if he's expecting me to say something.

_'Shit. Here goes nothing.' _"I'm...sorry?" I shrug at him, not sure what it is he wants from me, especially with me in complete red alert panic mode.

He scoffs. "You show up at the edge of camp, pass out, we drag your ass in here and let you sleep the day away, and all you have to say is 'I'm sorry'?" He looks at me skeptically.

"We almost shot you as an intruder. You're lucky it was me guarding the perimeter and not Grunt. He would've shot you without a second thought. What's your name, female? What clan do you hail from?"

_'Shit. SHIT shit shit. I've gotta tell him something, what though?'_ My mind races as I try to come up with a viable excuse. "Well, thank you for not shooting me. As to your other questions, I honestly don't remember. I don't have any memory here before I woke up." I'm using my very best poker face, hoping it translates well on a krogan face, and praying he buys the lie. I figure being as polite as possible is also a really good idea. It helps with the whole lying thing.

He raises his left brow at me, pausing for a moment. I'm pretty sure he's trying to figure out if I'm yanking his chain, and I keep my expression as neutral as a rock as I steadily look him in the eyes.

His face smooths out and he grunts. "Don't remember anything? Some kind of amnesia then? You did have a pretty big swollen welt on the back of your head when I examined you after we got you in here. Any idea who hit you, or did you forget that too?"

I shake my big head. "No idea. And you examined me? Are you a physician or something?" I ask, hoping I wasn't just man...er... Krogan-handled by some random person with no medical training.

He chuckles at my expression, my uncertainty and wariness must be showing more than I thought. Crap. "I'm the closest thing this camp has to one. When a krogan's been around as long as I have, and seen as many fights as I have, he tends to learn how to dress wounds pretty well." He puffs his chest out as my eyes trail away from his eyes and begin to take in his many scars, some of them deep enough to cut clean through his crest. This old boy has had a rough life. He grins at me when my eyes finish their appraisal and return to his.

He isn't my type, no matter how much I've inflated his ego with my observation of his scars. "I see. Well, if I may ask, where am I, exactly?" I raise my brow and lean forward with interest.

"Drunaan Camp, one of the many female camps for clan Urdnot. That's why we almost shot you, random krogans walking up to a female camp is not generally a good sign. Usually means an attack is coming. But after I examined you and found that knot on the back of your head, I figured you'd just been wandering around, dazed and confused."

I nod. "Good assumption. I really don't remember any of my life beyond waking up here, and a few snippets of things here and there that don't really help. Did you find anyone else besides me? Maybe I got separated from a group?" I ask, genuine curiosity winning out over the many reservations I'm having about talking to a living, breathing krogan.

He shakes his head. "No. We sent a couple scouts out, they didn't find anything. If you were a part of a group, they're long gone now. Though I have to say, everything about you is very... Neutral. You don't have any clan markings, even your clothing says nothing to help us figure out where you come from."

I blink at this. "Clan markings? And my clothing is supposed to mean something?" I can't hide the surprise and confusion on my face this time.

He looks at me, the expression on my face mirrored in his. "Damn. You really don't remember anything, do you?"

I shake my head and look down in what I hope approximates shame and sadness. He sits, watching me for a moment before deciding to act. He reaches over and hooks his claw gently under my chin, lifting my head. He sighs as I look at him. "We'll get this figured out, little one. Hell, Grunt didn't have a clan or anything to call his own either; he was tank-bred, and clan Urdnot welcomed him anyway. I'm sure we can take one more clanless into our ranks."

_'Hey, this guy isn't so bad,'_ I think, _'maybe I can make it here. If I can avoid pissing off every krogan in existence along the way, that is.'_

He tries to smile reassuringly at me, but his scars make it look more like a grimace. I give a small, hopeful smile in return. He pats my shoulder and stands, walking towards the door, then turns and seems to think for a moment before he speaks again. "Come on, we'll go to the main camp and talk to Clan Leader, maybe he'll have a solution for you." I nod and get up, following him out into the blistering Tuchanka sun.

We garner more than a few stares as we walk out of what is apparently his room. Actually, as I walk, it seems the stares are more directed at me than at him. Shit. I hate being stared at, it makes me feel so self-conscious. Grrr. I feel my plates itching in frustration, and look down, only to realize that I'm suddenly a deeper shade of red than what I saw in the mirror. _'Wait... Fuck, am I blushing?'_ The second the thought crosses my mind, I grow even more red. _'What the fuck? Krogan blushing is all over their whole freaking body? Seriously? Ahh man, this is gonna be painful.'_

We finally reach the edge of town, and start onto the road to the main camp, and my destiny. _'Pfft, how ironic is that? Well, fuck it. Destiny, Fate, whatever you wanna be called, lead the way. May as well, you're runnin' this show.'_


	2. Chapter 2: Questions of Fate

**Chapter 2: Questions of Fate**

**A/N: If you guys liked the revised chapter 1, as with this and all future chapters, thank Atreyu429 and Mordinette. They are my two amazing betas, without which I would have NEVER had the guts and sense to make this story worth reading. Thank you guys, from the bottom of my hearts. :)**

**Again, I'm going purely by memory here, so if I get crap wrong, sorry. Point it out in review or PM, I'll fix as needed.**

**{Garkun is OC, he'll be sticking around, so figured I'd mention that. Kind of a father figure to me, since I'm so new to being a krogan and all.}**

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Camp Drunaan apparently isn't far from the main camp, so we're taking the well-worn road on foot, trekking slowly, as I keep stumbling repeatedly. These big, three-toed krogan feet are an odd thing to get used to walking on; I keep getting my talons stuck in the hard packed dirt, or ramming them painfully into all the rocks and debris imbedded in the ground.

At first, my male companion - which I learn is called Garkun - looks at me like I'm stupid, as he has no problems navigating the rough road, familiar as he is with krogan feet and terrain. But after a few times of me nearly falling on my face, he's taken to laughing at my blunders. "You're like a young pup, just learning to walk!" He says, laughing it up and holding his ribs.

I roll my eyes at him. "I told you I didn't remember a damn thing. Believe me now?" I finish with a knowing smirk on my face.

His face sobers for just a moment as he realizes that I saw the disbelief in his eyes when I first told him about my memory loss. He smiles. "Hard not to believe you, as much as you're stumbling around. Krogan feet a bit hard to get used to, little one?" He laughs as I stub my talons on yet another rock.

I wince as the pain gets worse each time I do this. _'Sure, laugh it up old man. When I learn to walk I'm gonna beat you to the damn camp, then we'll see who's laughing.'_ I decide to try a different tactic. I stand still, and lift my toes, or rather talons, then take a couple of steps. That seems to work quite well, and a smile creeps across my face. "There, I think I figured it out!" I say excitedly, and Garkun smiles, nodding his approval.

"Figured if I laughed at you long enough, you'd wisen up and sort it out." He grins and claps my shoulder with a blow that would've dislocated my shoulder, if I was still human. I smile ruefully at the thought.

I'm still more than a little worried and in shock about this whole ordeal. I can't help but wonder if Fate finally just lost it when she sent me here, if this is all just some huge fluke, a mistake. Surely Fate has a better idea for me than just ending up as some krogan on Tuchanka, unknown and barely able to function as a native krogan would. It just doesn't sound like something Fate herself would intervene in someone's life for. _'My life before may have been miserable, but is this really any better? I'm an outcast. AGAIN. Fuck you, Fate; this isn't an upgrade. Well, aside from it being in the Mass Effect Universe, that part is pretty awesome.'_

I'm making much better time now that I can walk properly, and I start to recognize some of the structures and fallen rubble from the game as we near the camp. Sure enough, he's trailing behind me just a bit, huffing out his breaths in his effort not to be outdone by the 'child' that just learned to walk. I grin at him with mischief in my heart, and it shows in my voice as I ask, "Having a bit of trouble keeping up?"

He growls a bit at me, but a smirk creeps across his face, which turns into a laugh as he comes to a stop next to me on the edge of camp. "Come on, let's get this over with" he says, trudging past me into camp.

I suddenly wonder if I'm going to be facing Wreav or Wrex as we near the throne. _'Shit, as much as I love Mordin, I don't want to deal with Wreav. That idiot can go eat pyjak shit for all I care.'_ There are several krogans obstructing my view as we approach the throne, and I stand about six feet away from one of the guards as Garkun takes the other one aside to explain why we need to see the Clan Leader.

I don't pay attention to what he tells him, as I'm too busy trying to get a glimpse of the krogan on the throne, and gauging the difficulty of the process I'm about to go through based on who happens to be sitting there.

Garkun finishes talking to the guard, who returns to his station and gives me an odd look. It looks like disgust mixed with open curiosity. I maintain his gaze unfalteringly, and he eventually turns his attention back to the wall behind me. _'Sweet! I won a staring contest!'_ I snort, satisfied with my performance.

Garkun comes back to stand next to me, and leans over to murmur into my ear canal. "I'll explain your situation to the Clan Leader, but it'll be up to you to prove your worth to the clan. If you have any skills you can remember, that would be a good time to share them. And of course we'll need to have you examined for fertility."

I blink at this. If there is one thing I am not interested in becoming, it's a simple 'fertile female' that half the clan can fuck for procreation. I know the genophage made that a bit of a necessity, but I want no part of it. If I found a mate I could stand, and settled down to raise a family like that, fine; but I am not going to submit to being a part of some breeding harem, fuck that shit.

I shake my head clear of the thought as I feel a strangely strong surge of anger flood my mind. _'I have to control myself better than that, don't need to go into a krogan bloodrage in the middle of the main camp of Clan Urdnot. That will not help my cause.'_

I turn to Garkun, tapping his shoulder to get his attention away from the varren fight he's watching as we wait. "What kinds of skills would I need?" I ask, hoping at least one of the skills from my apparently previous life would be useful. He grunts at me as he thinks for a time before answering. "Depends on whether you're fertile or not. If you are, wouldn't need much more than taking care of yourself and maintaining a household. If you aren't, then hunting, fighting, tracking, blowing things up." He says vaguely, waving his hand as he speaks, returning his attention to the varren fight as he finishes.

_'Good,'_ I think, _'if I'm not fertile, at least I have some basis for the skills I'd need to be useful.'_ I nod slightly to myself, confidence rising slightly with this knowledge. I already know how to shoot straight and hit my target, though I'm aware that the guns of this universe would be a bit different. And though I've never been in an actual fight, I know a move or two. Not enough to avoid getting my ass beat, but enough to hold my own. For a few seconds. I gulp at that thought.

The krogans near the throne seem to be getting very angry about something they are discussing. There's a few raised voices, and the guards start to look a bit antsy, shifting and glancing back at the racket.

Suddenly, a krogan with a dull brown crest and rust colored skin is sent flying backwards from the throne, landing at least eight feet away, flat on his ass, squishing his tail and howling in pain for just a second before he stops himself, face still twisted up. I grimace, remembering that pain from when I first tried to stand up from next to the cot I'd fallen out of just an hour before, and he's landed a lot harder than I did.

The crowd of krogans around the throne backs off and separates, revealing a very angry Urdnot Wrex to my eyes. I grin broadly, relieved to see him instead of his half-wit clutch brother, Wreav. The thought that Mordin might be dead tempered my grin a bit, but I soldier on.

I am so happy to see Wrex that I want to hug him. I shake my head alarmingly at that desire; I could certainly do that, if I wanted to die very quickly afterwards. _'WHAT are you thinking, woman? Wake up, you're on Tuchanka now, and this isn't one of your fan fictions!'_

I straighten up and nod in respect as Wrex looks over the crowd and at me for just a second, then sits down, waving away the krogans that apparently accompanied the offending krogan into the meeting.

They quickly leave the throne platform, the krogan Wrex charged holding his now bent tail in his right hand behind him in sorrow and agony as he walks away. It's a rather comical sight, and I have to force myself not to burst out laughing.

It's finally our turn, and we walk through the guards, who now make room for us, and turn to face the great and mighty Wrex, leader of Clan Urdnot, a clan I hope to soon belong to. _'Gods, I can't believe I'm actually standing in front of Wrex! Shepard's Wrex! Wait... Shepard... Wrex... Shepard... Wrex... HA!'_ I can't help laughing internally at the old meme, and barely manage to suppress a smile.

Garkun begins to explain my situation, how he found me, my lack of markings, clan, or memory, even mentioning my stumbling while learning to walk when Wrex displays disbelief in my story. Wrex studies me appraisingly as Garkun speaks, his eyes wandering over my crest, my face, pausing at my clothing and taking in the flowing red threading there, noting the lack of markings of any sort on my body, confirming my story, even down to the obvious scuff marks on my talons from stumbling everywhere. I blush lightly at his scrutinizing gaze. He notices, a small smirk on his face the only indication of it.

Garkun ends his speech with the fact that I want to take Clan Urdnot as my own, becoming Urdnot... Whatever my name is. Wrex blinks in surprise at this. "She doesn't even have a name? Did she just drop from the sky and hit her head?" All the krogans nearest the throne laugh, even the guards. I just smile quietly at the joke, watching Wrex intently.

Wrex sends me off with one of his guards, I'm to see the clan physician to be tested for fertility, while he and Garkun discuss my possible futures. Garkun seems to have taken a particular interest in my case, and it's nice to know I have at least one krogan on my side, somewhat.

The guard escorts me to the Doctor, who sits me down on a rather hard bench and draws a large vial of blood with a very large needle from my arm. It hurts less than I thought it was going to, and I sit quietly, waiting for the test results. I look at the guard who accompanied me, a tall krogan, bright red crest crowning a nicely tan body, dark blue eyes peeking out under his brows, watching me.

I raise a brow at him, and he lets his eyes wander over to the Doctor as he mixes vials and dips test strips, pretending that he hadn't been looking at me in the first place. I snort and lean back against the wall, crossing my arms under my chest and continuing to watch him.

My eyes only divert from him when the Doc comes over and hands me a datapad with a bunch of numbers and some scientific words that have something to do with krogan physiology. I shake my head, confusion marking my face as I speak. "I don't know what this means." I say honestly, looking at the Doc for an explanation. He huffs at me and gives me a look that tells me I'm testing his patience, then explains in two simple words.

* * *

**A/N: Cliffhanger! Gahhh! I know we all hate them, but that's the point. **

**So, am I fertile and stuck with being a baby maker, or will I get to go play with the big boys? **

**Or maybe both? Ooooooh, can't wait to see!**

**And yes, I laughed at mentioning my fan fictions. It's ok, you can laugh too. :P**

**Review, enjoy, all that junk.**

**FEEDBACK IS KING!**

**~love~**


	3. Chapter 3: Flower of Tuchanka

**Sands of Tuchanka **

**Chapter 3: Flower of Tuchanka**

**A/N: Yaaaayyy! Time to end the cliffhanger! **

"You're fertile. Congrats." The Doctor says unceremoniously.

My face falls a bit. I can see the guard out of the corner of my eye looking at me with renewed interest, and I shoot him a withering look of disgust. It didn't seem to affect him. Fucker.

I thank the Doctor, to which he just shrugs, and I walk out of the makeshift clinic like a krogan on a mission. I am NOT going to be stuck on this planet as some nameless breeder, a small lifetime of memories from another life playing in my head as I pop out krogans for a thousand years.

_'FUCK that! I'm gonna go plead my case and make them see that I don't want that to be my whole life. They can either listen, or I'll take my case to a clan that will._' Venom drips from the edges of my mind as my anger brews just beneath the surface of my control.

I don't wait for the guard as I make my way back to the throne, trying to keep my fury from boiling over, trying to keep a dignified front as I present myself to Wrex again. I'm seeing red, but I try my damnedest to keep a lid on it, and cool myself down.

He looks at me as I approach the platform, and watches as I stand about six feet in front of him, and turn to face him. I'm sure he can see my anger, sure anyone can, but I'm still trying to contain it.

As soon as I see him, I suddenly wish I had the longer garments of the bonded females on, as he's looking at me like a tasty meal. _'What, do angry females turn him on or something? Shit, they probably do, knowing krogans.'_ I mentally roll my eyes at this thought.

I try to concentrate on what I want to say, but he interrupts me. "So? Are you fertile or not?" I grimace.

_'Shit, here goes nothin'_ . "Before I answer, may I speak plainly, Clan Leader?" He nods. "Speak girl, let's hear it." His look changes from a lustful leer to one of intellectual interest in a microsecond.

I'm a little surprised at his quick track change, but I nod respectfully and take a breath in to speak, not wanting to waste his time. "I do not wish for a sedentary life. I have interests, dreams I would like to fulfill at some point, before I am too old to do so. I want to see more of this galaxy than my front porch; than Tuchanka, even. Not to say I wouldn't settle down at some point, find a mate, and start a family, but I want to do more with this life than just being a fertile female. I would ask that I be trained to do more than this, so I can be an asset, not just to Tuchanka, but to this galaxy as a whole." As I finish, I think it is a rather good, if short speech. Apparently so do the two krogans before me.

Garkun looks both surprised and impressed, and Wrex is smiling at me with some twinkle in his eyes that I don't quite recognize. Wrex speaks first. "Well girl, if you're going to be something in this galaxy, people have to know what your name is. What do you want to be called?"

I hadn't even thought of this yet, and I pause, considering it. "I'm not exactly sure what constitutes a good krogan name, but I like the name 'Shanna', if that would be acceptable." I say, looking a bit uncertainly at Wrex and Garkun both as I speak the name of my past life. It isn't that I particularly like the name, but at least I'll recognize it when someone calls me out from a crowd.

Wrex nods his big head at me solemnly, and spreads his arms for emphasis as he speaks. "Then welcome to the clan, Urdnot Shanna." He smiles at me, and I almost giggle as I hear the two names together, they sound so mismatched.

I ponder for a second that perhaps I should have gone with my nickname, Spyke, but it's too late now; Clan Leader already declared my identity in the clan loudly enough for those surrounding the throne to hear it, and I'm not about to test his patience by getting him to do it again for the sake of my petty vanity. Besides, Shanna fits the way I look now, far more than it did in my previous life.

Garkun and Wrex are talking amongst themselves, and I sneak a look around me, noting several males pretending not to look at me, and several others just staring openly. I manage to turn back towards the throne before my blush betrays me, but Wrex is looking right at me, and he laughs. "What, you expect them not to stare? You're the most attractive female most of them have ever been lucky enough to see. They're gonna look, and look hard, Urdnot Shanna." He says my name with pride. I like it.

"I'm.. Attractive? I don't exactly know the krogan standards for beauty, so I wasn't sure." I ask nervously. I'm sure Wrex isn't the person to be asking questions like this, but he doesn't seem bothered by them; more amused and intrigued than anything.

He chuckles and waves his hand towards himself to get me to step closer. When I do, he shocks me by taking my hand. "Girl, if I wasn't Clan Leader, and I wasn't already filling in so many breeding requests... If I was able to take a single mate, based on looks alone, you would be it. You're the most beautiful krogan female I've ever laid eyes on, and Garkun agrees with me. So does the rest of this camp, for that matter. You'd better watch yourself, and be happy Garkun here seems to have taken a liking to you. He'll help protect you from some of the unwanted suitors, but you'll have to do some of it on your own; he won't always be there." He looks at my hand and kisses it, then waves me back so he can talk to Garkun some more.

Now I REALLY wish I had more clothing on. Not only am I blushing HARD, but I've apparently managed to land myself in the body of the most attractive krogan female to be brought into clan Urdnot in a long time. I had a feeling it was going to be far more of a curse than a blessing. Then a thought kicks me like a mule in the back of my head. _'Fate! DAMN YOU! It was YOU that cursed me with beauty. Damnit, I don't have the personality for beauty. WHY? You know this isn't a blessing, right? Beauty is a fucking curse! AHHHHH! Fuck!'_

One more quick glance around the camp confirmed that thought, as almost all eyes were trained on me.

I want to roll up into a ball, and roll myself right on outta there, but I can't, so I flush furiously again, and wait for the two males in the room that I can actually stand to be done talking.

They're discussing where I should stay. Garkun is pushing for Drunaan, he can watch me easier there, and there are less males present constantly to fight off. Wrex is pushing for another female camp where males aren't allowed to visit at all, because the females there only breed with Wrex himself.

I step a little closer and spoke in a low voice. "Wr... Clan Leader?" _'Shit! Almost called him by name!'_ I swallow my panic quickly. "May I speak to this issue on my own behalf?"

He looks at me blankly for a moment, and I wonder if he noticed my slip up, but he just nods. "Go ahead."

I take a breath in relief as I speak, "I would like to stay at camp Drunaan. It may have more males, but I'd feel safer with Garkun there than by myself in a place where I don't know anyone." I smile at Garkun, then bow to Wrex slightly as I continue, "I leave it in your capable hands, Clan Leader." I smile and back up again, returning to my previous position.

Wrex looks at me approvingly, and nods. "You should become a diplomat girl, you talk like one. You're... Eloquent." He chuckles and I smile at what I take as a compliment.

He glances back to Garkun and nods to him. "Fine, she can go back with you. Set her up nice and get what she needs, while she figures out what role she wants to fill there until she's trained enough to do something... Bigger." He looks at me with a grin as he says the last word. "I'll be watching you, Urdnot Shanna." I swallow hard before smiling at him and giving a small bow of respect, bringing my fist to my chest in a salute as I straighten and turn to follow Garkun off the platform.

I hear Wrex's chuckle follow Garkun and I off the platform.

_'Mission successful!'_ I think to myself as I carefully maneuver the rubble strewn over the ramp off of the platform, _'I've got a name, clan, and a place to call my own while I try to figure all this shit out. It's a start, at least.'_

We have a new mission thrust upon us almost the second I step foot on the ground.

A large krogan with purplish brown plates and dark skin moves into our way, blocking our path, and speaks proudly at me. "I wish to invoke the rite of honor-" I interrupt him with a headbutt. He looks dazed for a moment, then falls down, shaking his head to try to clear it.

Anger rages in my eyes as I growl at him, "And _stay _down, if you know what's good for you, krogan!"

There's a moment of tension, where I am honestly afraid I did the wrong thing. Suddenly, everyone bursts into laughter. Everyone. Especially Wrex, who had seen the poor krogan approach me, and was standing near the edge of his platform for a good view.

I turn and grin up at him in relief, and he winks at me, at which I blush, and quickly turn around. I hear him laugh even harder, but I don't care. I step over the defeated krogan, and continue my trek out of the camp uninterrupted.

Garkun is still laughing as we reach the road to Drunaan, and I try to shoot him a look, but end up laughing myself.

Things finally quiet down, and my head stops throbbing. It hurts to headbutt a krogan if you only have partially hardened plates, I can only imagine the migraine Shepard must've had when she did it with her comparatively soft human head. I wonder absently if she got a fracture in her skull from it.

* * *

**A/N: WHATCHU GUYS THINK?**

**Lol, seriously, what do you guys think about this story so far? Do you like Urdnot Shanna, are my portrayals of the krogans alright so far, especially Wrex?**

**And yes, my name is Shanna, no, I don't care if you know.**

**Love all of you, and see you soon!**

**FEEDBACK IS KING!**

**~love~**


	4. Chapter 4: Sunrise

**Sands of Tuchanka**

**Chapter 4: Sunrise**

* * *

I didn't sleep well.

Garkun was instrumental in setting me up with my own little concrete room at the camp. I have a bed, a dresser for clothes that I don't own yet, an armor locker with some basic training armor; and a gun rack with a shotgun that scares me a little with its sheer size and weight.

I'd asked him to start training me in gun use and maintenance today, so I know I wouldn't be able to turn over and try for the hundredth time to get some sleep. Instead, I swing my huge feet over the edge of the bed, and stand up, yawning and stretching.

I look in the mirror, and I'm glad for once that I don't have to fix my hair, but I can still tell I haven't slept. I shrug at the image in the mirror, as there is nothing for it; I'll have time for sleep later.

I hear a knock at my metal door - well, more of a resounding banging sound, these are krogans after all - and call out, "Give me a moment, I'm not decent!" And proceed to toss on the outfit I'd been found in.

I managed to clumsily put the top on when I hear a rich, deep, male voice yell through the door. "What do you mean, 'decent'?"

I roll my eyes - of course krogans wouldn't understand what that means- and I respond with a growl, "I'll be there in a minute, deal with it!" This seems to be the end of it, as I hear the male take a step back from the door and come to a standing rest.

I finish putting on my bottom garment, checking the mirror to make sure it looks like it did yesterday when I was wearing it properly, and go to the door. I yank it open, frustration edging my face, until I lay eyes on the male standing there, looking confused and bored, until he looks up, and his jaw drops.

Standing right outside my door is none other than Urdnot Grunt, the impressively handsome and perfect tank bred krogan teenager that I'd come to appreciate so much from the game. The breath hitches in my throat as I try to speak, my skin flushing a deep shade of red from embarrassment, and he seems to be in a similar state.

_'Holy shit! It's Grunt! SQUEEEEEE! Oh Gods, what am I thinking? Krogans don't squee! Ack! Control yourself, woman!'_ I finally manage to grin at him, and take a step forward, placing a talon under his jaw and closing his mouth gently, at which he swallows, and seems to break out of his dazed state a bit. "Uh... Hi!" Is all he says, though he does manage a rather silly lopsided grin with the words, as his eyes start to rove over me.

I shake my head at him, still grinning, and spoke. "Hi. You're Grunt, aren't you?" He nods his big head, silly grin intact, and I snort to smother a laugh. He looks so funny like that, and it's hard as hell to keep a straight face. "Ok, well, Grunt; not that I'm complaining, but why are you here?" I ask, as his lopsided smile turns to a full on grin at my words. He stands there, just grinning for a few moments, as I shift from one foot to another. The movement seems to shake him from his stupor.

"Oh, Garkun sent me to come get you. He said for you to suit up and grab your shotgun, and follow me out to the range." His face finally relaxes into a more serious expression, but the smile still pulls at the edges of his lips.

I spare another smile for him and nod. "Ok, but I may need some help. I don't know how much he told you about me, but I don't have any memory beyond when I woke up yesterday, so I really don't know how to put armor on. If you could help me, I'd be quite grateful."

His eyes get big all of a sudden, and a grin splits his face in two, followed shortly by a loud guffaw of a laugh. "You don't know how to put armor on?" He asks, laughter shaking his huge frame. "Every krogan knows how to wear his armor!" He continues to laugh openly at me. I just wait patiently and smile ruefully while he gets it out of his system.

He finally quiets down, and I step back to give him room to enter my small abode, holding my hand to the side in invitation. He tromps his way in and stands by the open door as I move over to the armor locker. I had investigated it a bit the previous night, putting away the training armor Garkun had given me, placing each piece in their proper slots as he stood there directing me.

I pull out the mesh undersuit and start to slip it on, but Grunt stops me with a hand on my arm. "You don't wear clothes under that. They'll get ruined." He says, shaking his head at my ignorance. I blink and look at him. He has a smirk on his lips, but the rest of his face is solemn. I'm not sure if he's being serious, or just trying to see me without the flimsy clothing I'm wearing. He interrupts my thought process with an impatient huff of breath. "Come on hurry up, Garkun's waiting on us."

I open my mouth as if to speak, but nothing comes out. I look at the undersuit, then my clothing, then back up at him, and swallow hard. "I... Ok fine, turn around then." I finally manage to say, giving him a firm nod towards the door.

His face twists up in confusion at my command. "What? Why?" He asks, his face turning slightly suspicious as he speaks.

I gasp in exasperation at him, and nod my head towards my clothing and undersuit, hoping he'll get the hint that I want some privacy. He doesn't. Instead, he looks at me like I'm stupid, and I growl at him in frustration. "If I have to get undressed to put this on, I don't want you staring at me! Have a little common decency and turn around! And no peeking!"

Grunt finally gets the hint and huffs again as he turns around, though I can hear him snickering under his breath after his back is to me, and his hump betrays him by shuddering with his quiet laughter. Perhaps krogans don't value things like personal privacy, but I'll be damned if I won't maintain mine. I may be krogan now, but I still have _some_ civility, damnit.

I quickly change out of my skimpy clothes and into the mesh undersuit, which luckily has solid patches of cloth covering indecent parts, and I zip it up with a talon before turning to Grunt and tapping him on his shoulder. "Now what?" I ask, gesturing to the rest of the armor with a motion of helplessness as he turns back to face me.

He promptly walks over to the locker and pulls the chest piece out, smacking it to my body with gusto, indicating that I should hold it there, and turns to grab the back piece, which he also slaps onto me. "Snap these together," he instructs, pointing at the snaps at each shoulder, "now these." He points to the two at my side. I comply, and turn to snap the two on my other side before he can mention those, at which he nods his approval.

We work quickly, managing to get my new armor secured to my body much quicker than I expected, and I stand in front of the mirror, appraising my armored appearance with pride. He stands behind me, staring at my armored ass. I shake my head and grin at his reflection.

I turn and grab my shotgun from the gun rack, holstering it and facing him with a smile on my face. I have to ask. "Enjoying the view, Grunt?" I grin at him as he smiles.

"You have no idea..." He pauses as a thought seems to come to his mind. "Hey, what's your name anyway? Garkun said he'd let you introduce yourself, said something about you mentioning to him that your official name wasn't what you liked, or something like that." He looks at me with genuine interest, which I immediately respect.

Most males that had asked my name so far had this glint in their eyes that indicated to me that they didn't really care, they just wanted to know what name to call out as they bedded me. Which turned out to be the truth, as I'd received multiple breeding requests the previous night, nearly all followed by headbutts from me or Garkun. My crest plates were still tender, and I have a feeling they're gonna be scarred and hardened long before they're supposed to be, thanks to the overly eager and insistent males of Tuchanka.

I smile at him as I respond. "My official name within the clan is Urdnot Shanna, but you can call me Spyke, if that's easier for you to remember. Either is fine."

He nods. "Ok Spyke, sounds good. Though Shanna matches your looks. It sounds more... Exotic." He grins at me and I laugh, thanking my armor silently for hiding most of my blush.

I walk to him and smile, stretching up, standing on my talons to reach, and kiss his cheek. "Thank you for helping me. Not many would have." Surprised, he rocks back a bit, and I grin as I watch his face and neck redden brightly. Now it's my turn to be surprised as he leans down and kisses the lip of my crest. I look up at him, a puzzled expression on my face, and ask, "What was that for?"

He flushes a deeper shade of red as he answers. "You kissed me, so I kissed you back."

I laugh. "You don't get kissed often, do you?" I ask him, a sweet smile on my face so he didn't think I was trying to tease him.

He shakes his head. "Nope, first time. But I know what it was 'cause I've seen it on the extranet. You like me. I like you too, so I kissed you."

It's now my turn to flush red all over, and I grin at him. "Well, thank you, that was sweet." I smirk at him, and was about to turn to head out the door when he leans in and kisses me right on the lips. My eyes go wide with surprise and I gasp as he breaks the kiss. "Holy... Um.. Grunt... I..." I stumble over my own tongue, completely flustered and more than a little hot under my armor's collar at his bold move.

He just stands there, grinning at me. "I told you, I like you. You didn't look like you believed me, so I showed you."

I pause, partly because I'm shocked that this is really happening - I reach up to the back of my neck, pretending to rub it, and pinch myself. _'Yep, this is real.'_ - and partly because I'm about to do something I would have never done before in my entire timid human life.

I lean up and kiss the fool. As he starts to kiss me back, I feel a rush of heat and cold in perfect harmony in my stomachs, and I lick between his lips, being rather insistent with my prodding. Our tongues meet, dancing a clumsy tango and exploring each other's mouths happily. My hands move of their own volition, instinct taking hold, one hand roving over his separated crests, the other caressing his neck lightly, and he draws his arms around my waist, yanking me to him tightly and holding me there.

It may not be what I think is a very krogan thing to do, but I force my tail to wag for all it's worth. It seems like the right thing to do for some reason. I let a hand fall to plant it firmly on his ass, and find his tail is wagging just as hard as mine is. As much as I don't want to break the wonderfully clumsy, sweet kiss, I have to; because seconds later I'm leaning back against his arms, tossing my head back and laughing. He speaks indignantly, still holding onto me snugly, "What?! What's so funny?"

I calm myself enough to answer, "I am so sorry, but I couldn't help laughing at both of us wagging our tails like a couple of varrens." I grin at him, and as he starts to smile back at me, I plant a small kiss on the tip of his center crest ridge. I hug him and nuzzle into his neck, licking once before resting my head on the collar of his armor. He purrs loudly at the lick, and my eyes blink as the sound reverberates through both of our bodies. _'Krogans can purr? Why don't they include this shit in the game?'_ I think, as I lift my head, loosening my grip on him enough to look him in the face. "How are you doing that? The purring I mean." I ask, jealousy edging my features.

He shrugs. "I don't know, wasn't trying to do it, it just happened. Never done it before." He replies. I pout. He chuckles at me.

Then something that had been nagging at the back of my mind suddenly charged forward and made its presence known. "Oh shit! I'm supposed to be meeting Garkun! Shit! I've got to get over there, let's go!" I say, trying to head towards the door, but his arms around me stop me, tightening around me and making me face him. He nuzzles into my neck, and licks, just like I'd done to him, and it surprises me when I hear the purring again, coming from me. I grip the the ends of his crests where they meet his neck, rubbing and squeezing, and his own purr joins mine, making a comforting and wonderful sensation where we are touching skin to skin.

I moan lightly, but I know I have to leave, so I stop myself short, patting his shoulder. He lets me go and stands up straight. I already miss the closeness, but I have an appointment to get to. "As much as I would _love_ to continue this right now, I'm late, and you know it." I say, smiling up at him and leaning up once more to nip lightly at his jaw. We both purr at this, and we purr the whole way to the range, garnering a strange look, followed by laughter and endless teasing from Garkun.

I learn the shotgun quickly, and it isn't nearly as scary as it had once been, after I realize that a lighter gun doesn't have the proper weight to let us shoot straight. It didn't make any sense to me until Garkun produces a lighter shotgun for comparison, and we all totally miss the center of the target with it.

I'm shooting practice dummies with target paper on them, when Grunt walks over to me. I start to get a bit nervous at his closeness, and I miss the shot I'm trying to make. I sigh as he chuckles quietly behind me, and I reload the gun before going for a second try. I manage to hold the gun steady, and aim properly, when the bastard starts to purr again, totally wrecking my concentration and nerves.

I turn to him, shotgun still in hand, and give him a very pointed look. "Knock it off, you're killing me here. Ya big stud." He grins at this and his purring grows louder, and I'm finally forced to shoo him away. "Look, I have to learn things here. Go.. Stand over there and look pretty or something." I smirk as he gives me a quirky look. He complies, however, so with a satisfied nod, I turn back to the target. I take the shot. I miss by an inch or so, but I'm getting better. I can only imagine how much I'm going to be missing tomorrow though, as we're going to be learning assault rifles. Yep, I'm gonna send a lot of fully automatic shots up into the poor sky.

Cleaning the weapon is a lot harder for me to grasp, as I'd only ever shot guns before, never maintained them. I'd always been a damn good shot though, and Garkun agrees that I am, for a female. I just roll my eyes at him and he laughs.

Too soon, training for that day is over, and we all walk back into town, Grunt telling stories of battles he's been in with his battlemaster, a human female named Shepard, and Garkun boasting about his trophies and a few off-world conquests. I laugh in my head when Grunt mentions Shepard, knowing that there aren't many stories he can tell me about his time with her that I didn't already know about. I wonder idly if the reapers have come and gone yet, and if this galaxy's Shepard was alive or not. _'Oh shit, what if the reapers haven't come yet?'_ I think, stress lining my face and stiffening my body as the thought settled in.

I decide to access to the extranet when I get to my room, and see what the news said. I was just about to enter my room and sit down to my terminal, when I'm stopped by a hand on my shoulder. I turn to see Grunt and Garkun talking not far away, their backs turned, and a black and tan themed krogan male standing in front of me with 'that' look in his eyes, about to speak those same damn right of honor words that had wrecked my crest ridges and sleep last night.

Before he could get half the sentence out, I just roar at him, "Look, I'm tired, hungry, and pissed already, so if you really want to finish that sentence, go ahead fucker, take your best shot!" I glare at him, wishing he'd finish, red beginning to line the edges of my vision.

His mouth is gaping open at my outburst, his tan flesh flushing with embarrassment at being dressed down so abruptly by a female. "But I have every right to ask you for this!" he roars indignantly.

I snarl at him, my eyes narrowing as I respond, "And I have every right to refuse, shit head. So get out of my face before I make you."

I can see this is the wrong thing to say the second I say it, but I hold my ground anyway. I can feel the heat of anger emanating from him, and I know if I give him one inch of ground, he'll take a light year. He looks like a bull getting ready to charge, so I do the only thing I can think of, the only thing that's worked so far: I head-butt him. HARD. So hard even I see a few stars.

He looks pretty dazed, but remains standing. I honestly fear for my life now, but the fear ebbs as his eyes slowly cross, and he falls out cold. I bark out a weak laugh, then turn and stumble slightly towards my door. I fumble with the lock, and someone apparently takes pity on me, as I see a taloned hand reach for my passkey and slide it in the slot, before handing it back to me. I take the proffered card and trail my eyes slowly up the arm to the face of Garkun, who is grinning at me proudly.

I chuckle a little, and wave my hand for him to follow me in as I open the door. I plop down on the edge of my bed, my elbows resting on my knees as I bury my face in my hands. "I honestly thought I hadn't hit him hard enough, and he was gonna kill me." I mumble through my hands with a light laugh.

He guffaws, taking a seat on the bench by my armor locker. "Neither I or Grunt would've let him hurt you, you should know better. We were watching the whole thing after you alerted the entire camp to his advances." He didn't seem able to stop laughing.

I'd looked up at him as he spoke, and I started to join in his laughter, but my oncoming headache had other plans. "Ow. I should stop laughing now." I say, as I return my head to my hands. I decide to lay back gingerly, rubbing my temples as I lay flat. "Gods, I'm tired now. Do I have to take my armor off or can I just sleep right here?" I ask, truly wishing he would let me just sleep off this headache.

"Sorry little one, but I'm pretty sure your back would complain loudly in the morning if you slept in your armor. It's made for protection, not sleeping in." I heard him get up from the bench and walk over to me, grabbing my hands in his and pulling me up. "Come on, I'll help you to your undersuit, you can take care of that yourself."

I smile weakly in thanks as he starts unsnapping my leg pieces, setting them in my armor locker neatly before moving to my gloves and arms. I manage to undo the snaps on my torso myself, and hand him the pieces, before thanking him for his help, and wishing him a good night. He nods and walks out of my room, closing the door behind him. I slowly unzip and peel the undersuit from my leathery skin, hanging it loosely in my armor locker before passing out on my bed.

As I slip into the dream world, I feel myself moving away from my body, and yet again I am looking at myself from an outside perspective. "Oh, great, here we go again" I say.

As I turn, sure enough, there stands Fate in all her glory, beaming a smile at me. "Hello, Urdnot Shanna... Or should I say, Spyke?" She grins, apparently she thinks she's being clever. "How are you liking your new life so far?"

I snort. "You really want me to answer that, Fate?" I shake my head at this whole crazy situation.

"Yes, I do. I'm not pressed for time now, so we can actually talk for a little while. I'm sure you have more than a few questions you would like answered, and I have a few of my own. So, let's make the most of the time we have, and ask and answer as honestly as we can, please." She said, the humor gone from her voice, but a small smile still intact on her face.

"Ok, I have a question for you. Are you going to show up every time I sleep? Cause, I can't imagine I'm sleeping well during these little... Events." I ask, looking back at my sleeping form.

"No, I will only come when I am needed. If you have more than one important question, I will come that night in your sleep to answer you. Alternately, if I have a concern or question for you, I will come. But it won't happen often." She responds evenly.

I turn back to her as she answers me, and nod as she finishes. "Alright, now I'm gonna ask you two questions I'm very curious about. The first is this: Why did you put me in the most beautiful krogan body encountered in at least the past three hundred years? The second: Am I the only person you're currently doing this whole life swapping thing to?

She smiles as she replies, "I made you beautiful so that you would have an easier time of convincing the krogans to accept you, despite your claim of a lack of memory. Just as Grunt is a perfect krogan, so are you. You are the female equivalent of Grunt, in a way. But you are even more special than he is, as you have the touch of Fate on you. And no, you are not the only person I am currently guiding, but none of the others were transferred to this universe."

I nod, satisfied with those answers, if more than a little surprised. "So that's why Grunt's already tried to kiss my face off? I suppose you made us genetically compatible, even. Pfft. You know, I have to say, all of this seems incredibly convenient. The fact that every male krogan, including Wrex and Grunt, are inexorably drawn to me, I'm miraculously allowed to do whatever I want to do instead of just being another member of Tuchanka's harem of fertile females, and I already have a token father figure willing to help me learn everything in this insane new life? I mean, honestly, just how much are you allowed to interfere in one person's life, because I can't see any of this happening in reality, without your direct intervention." I raise my left brow as I finish, my eyes narrowed to slits as I glare at her.

She sighs and nods at me. "Yes, you are correct, I have spent a lot of effort to get you successfully integrated into this life, and I'm not done yet. There is much work to be done yet, for both of us, before you will be able to continue mostly on your own. However, I did not influence Wrex, as you seem to believe. You did that all on your own. He was speaking the truth when he said he would take you as a mate if he could, and he will challenge any krogan that asks him for the privilege of you as a mate. It will be a problem, when it comes up."

Shock lines my face as I hear this. "When it comes up? Don't you mean if?"

She laughs lightly, causing the air to stir as lights dance around us in time to the sound. "Do you remember who you're talking to, my dear? It will happen. When, and who, I won't say, but it will. And it will have nothing to do with my influence."

"Really?" My surprise was palpable this time. "Nothing to do with your influence? So you're not going to intervene to change who I settle down and have a family with? That's... Intriguing." My mind buzzes with the implications of being able to actually choose a krogan to be with. My thoughts drift to Grunt, and I smile.

Fate's eyes light up as I smile, and she winks at me.

My eyes go wide as I finally realize she can hear my thoughts. "Wait, you can hear everyone's thoughts? That must be incredibly distracting."

She shakes her head, "No, I usually only hear the thoughts of the people I am guiding, and those around them. I tune out the rest, unless there is a strong need to hear it. That is why I told you that you need more than one important question for me to come to you in your sleep. My influence is always here, in varying degrees. For instance, tonight when you head-butted that suitor, even as hard as you hit him, it wasn't enough to knock him out cold like that. He had a particularly hard head, unfortunately. I had to step in and contain the situation. You should be more careful of your words, my dear."

If I was in my body, I would be blushing. As it is, the air grows thick with my shame. "Yeah sorry. I'd just had it up to here with the damn breeding requests," I say, motioning to somewhere above my head, "and I hadn't really slept in several days, so my mind was at the breaking point."

She nods in understanding. "Speaking of which, I will let you sleep now. I can come to you tomorrow night to finish this discussion, I can see you need rest more than talking right now." She winked at me and turned, walking away and fading from view.

I gratefully return to my body, and drift off to a sweet dream of adventuring through the ruins of Tuchanka with Garkun and Grunt, and I slipped into the most restful night of sleep I'd ever had.

**A/N: So, I completely changed the ending to this chapter, and decided to stretch things out just a touch. I think this is better, but I could be wrong. Let me know!**

**FEEDBACK IS KING!**

**~love~**


	5. Chapter 5: Just another day

Sands of Tuchanka

Chapter 5: Just another day

**A/N: Wow. Ok so, sorry it's been so long guys, I kinda totally lost inspiration for this one, in a bad way. I'm gonna attempt to write a new chapter for you guys, since I keep getting reviews of "next plz kthxbai!" Usually that means a story is overdue for an update, and seeing as this one's not been touched since November, I'd have to agree.**

**I re-read this for the first time in forever, had a few laughs, and realized there was no reason not to continue it. I just need to slow the pacing down a touch, as I was STILL racing ahead too quickly, and skipping rather important details. This seems to be a common thing with me, but: my writing style has changed since the last update, so if it seems different, that's why. I'll try to mimic it as closely as possible.**

******Enjoy!**

* * *

Sweet, blissful dreams are suddenly interrupted by the vibrantly chaotic scene of war drums being pounded in an uneven rhythm around a roaring fire, krogans charging each other left and right, grappling, striking, clawing, biting... Smatterings of orange blood form a bright flash of color against the dull earth tones that dyed the hides and plates of the krogans fighting each other in a violent dance around the fire, somehow managing to time their blows precisely to the beat of the drums. A growling, snarling cacophony is barely discernible over the loud pounding of the drums, the impacts sounding more metallic as the insanity of the scene presses into my mind, growing stronger, making my blood pump faster through my veins, speeding adrenaline through them as I near the edge of the all-out brawl.

Suddenly, the drums go silent, and every krogan present ceases all aggression, turning towards me in a wave of movement and sound. Every single one of them raises a fist to his chest, bowing slightly, honoring me. Instead of feeling shocked at the enormous gesture of respect, my dream self smiles, brings her fist to her chest, and bows in return.

The scene slowly fades as the drums begin anew.

I wake to the sound of someone trying to beat my door down. At least, that's what it sounds like, as the clanging reverberates off the walls of my small concrete home. The drums... The drums were someone knocking on my door... How long had they been knocking? I tried to raise myself and slide out of my bed at the same time, managing to halfway land on my face before my sluggish muscles caught up to my groggy brain's request. I groaned in exasperation as the pounding at my door returned, coupled with a shout from a voice I hazily recognized.

"Spyke! Wake up! You're late for training!" It's Grunt. I like Grunt. Wait, what did he say? Late? Late for training? "SHIT! Garkun's gonna be pissed!" I muttered under my breath, which I noted after a sniff to clear my nose was none too fresh. I picked myself up as quickly as I could, stumbling over to the bathroom with a complete lack of grace. I snatched at the giant utensil krogans used in lieu of a toothbrush, and quickly set about cleaning my large mouth with it as best I could, while looking at myself in the small mirror through half-closed eyes.

Despite the fog of sleep still clearing from my features, I looked better than I had the previous morning. That was something, at least. Sleep was good, right? Right. I hastily finished up the strange mouth cleaning ritual, and tottered slightly more gracefully over to my armor locker, snatching my undersuit on as quickly as I could. I grabbed the back piece for my armor, then leaned back against the wall after slapping it to my back a bit harder than necessary to help wake me up, and reached for the chest piece. After I snapped it all together, I put the rest of my armor on at a slightly faster pace, feeling my nerves finally catching up as the last numbness of sleep finally cleared away.

I grabbed my shotgun and holstered it, and after a quick check in the mirror to make sure I hadn't put anything in the wrong place, I huffed and walked to my still pounding door, yanking it open quickly enough that my face was very nearly met with Grunt's fist. Thankfully, he realized what had happened just in time to pull back, and a look of relief came over his face.

Before he had a chance to say anything, I grumbled, "Let's go."

He nodded, and we proceeded to the training area at a fast walk. I could see Garkun glowering at me long before we reached the shooting range. "You're late." he growled as we neared close enough to be in earshot.

I grimaced as I stood in front of him. "Sorry." I said quietly, lowering my head a bit in submission, while still keeping respectful eye contact.

"Sorry? What is it with you?" He imitated me – badly – as he spoke up again. "I fell out of the sky and bumped my head! Sorry! I'm late! Sorry!" He looked at me, seemingly taking a measure of me through slitted eyes. "Do you know how often a krogan uses the word 'sorry' as an apology?" He looked at me expectantly.

I gritted my teeth slightly before answering. "I'm going to assume 'never'?"

Slight surprise crossed his face, then he gestured at me as if to say, 'exactly!'. "She does get it! Give the female an extra heat sink, Grunt; she's going to need it."

Grunt nodded and handed me another heat sink from the supply crate, which I accepted with a sheepish smile.

Garkun grunted approvingly, then gestured to the gun rack behind him, which had a very evil looking assault rifle glaring out of the middle of the rack at me. "Grab your gun and let's get this over with."

I stepped up to the rack and reached for the rifle, carefully curling my hands around the grips, sliding it off the rack carefully, and bringing it closer to my front, trying to imitate pictures I remembered seeing of human soldiers holding assault rifles in my old life. Barrel aimed downwards, butt slightly elevated. Apparently it was mildly satisfactory, since neither krogan burst into laughter, though Garkun did shrug a little, apparently thinking it odd, but not enough to comment.

He started pointing out what I needed to know about the rifle to shoot it properly, showing me where to insert the heat sinks, how to pop them once they were spent, correcting my stance when I held it utterly wrong after he told me to raise it in preparation to fire. Once he'd finished grumbling over my ignorance, he led me over to the range, where he'd set up a target for me to practice on. He flicked a lever on the side of the gun as I watched, and a soft blue glow came over the gun in certain spots.

"Now, this is set to single round fire for now, until you get used to the recoil, then we'll switch it to three-round burst, then fully automatic. If you manage not to waste any stray bullets into the sky, you can have the gun. If you do shoot the sky full of holes, you get to clean that gun after every training session for a month, whether it's been fired or not." Garkun smirked as he finished speaking, obviously sure that I would be sending plenty of molten lead into the atmosphere.

I didn't want the damn gun; assault rifles weren't my style, in the game or real life. But I sure as fuck didn't want to be stuck cleaning it for a month, either. I took careful aim down the sights, kept my stance as close as I could remember to what he'd told me, breathed in, and took the shot. I lowered the gun as I breathed out, checking where the shot had landed on the target. Not exactly where I'd aimed, but not too far off. Well, not too far off that I couldn't correct for it, at least. I raised the rifle again, and took aim a second time. Two inches to the left, an inch up. Steady, breathe in, fire, breathe out, lower, check shot. Damn close. I heard Garkun snort behind me. Alright, old man, you want to see a shot? Let's do this. I raised the rifle again, adjusted my aim ever so slightly, and repeated the process again. Bullseye.

I lowered the rifle, switched the gun off, and turned to Garkun. "The sights are off. Gotta aim two and a half inches left, an inch and a quarter up to make it hit what you're wanting it to hit." I looked at him carefully, gauging his reaction. The nearly imperceptible smirk that flickered across his face was all the evidence I needed. "It's a test, isn't it? To see who's paying attention when they go to shoot it. Who calls it, and who calls it correctly." A smile spread across his wrinkled, scarred face, and he nodded. "So, did I pass?" I asked pointedly.

He walked up to me, put his hands on my shoulders, and slowly spun me around to face the range. He patted the butt of the rifle, and I drew it up to aim it. He clicked the lever twice, putting it in three-round burst mode, as the gun sang back to life. I smirked, and suppressed a nervous chuckle. I breathed in and out slowly, trying to calm my nerves. I knew there would be a triple recoil this time around, and that I'd have to aim lower to make sure every shot hit the target. I mentally adjusted for the sights being off, and aimed for two inches below the bulls eye. Steady, breathe in, 'RAT-TAT-TAT!' breathe out, lower rifle, check shots. I rolled my shoulder as I looked, trying to adjust to the odd sensation of the multiple recoils in such quick succession.

A bit more off than I'd thought it would be, but still on the target, amazingly. So far, so good. I tried again, adjusting my aim a little more to compensate. 'RAT-TAT-TAT!' Closer this time, but still not where I wanted it. I was trying to aim so that the second bullet would hit the bulls eye. It was proving a bit more difficult than I'd hoped. I tightened my grip, tugging the butt of the rifle more firmly into my shoulder, and tried once more. 'RAT-TAT-TAT!' There! The last bullet hit right on the edge of the bulls eye. Much better than the last two attempts.

I was just starting to get the hang of the three-round burst, when I heard heavy footsteps behind me. Garkun reached over, and flipped the lever to fully automatic. I gulped. "How many rounds per burst? Well, approximately, at least?" I called back to him.

"As many as you can manage, pyjak." He called back.

I straightened, my muscles stiff with annoyance. I lowered the gun and twisted to glare at him. "_Pyjak? _Did you seriously just call me that?"

He had a look of mild amusement as he answered. "You're small, you learn fast, you're smart, and you're adaptable. Sounds like a pyjak to me." He shrugged.

I rolled my eyes and sent him a sharp glance before turning back to the colossal issue at hand. It couldn't be _too_ much harder than the three-round burst mode, could it? I swallowed again. Who am I kidding? It's probably a _lot_ harder. Especially with the aiming issues to compound the issue. I sighed heavily and brought the rifle to bear, tightening it a bit harder against my shoulder, compensating farther than I had for the three-round burst mode on the aiming. And breathed in. 'RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!' WOAH! That fires a LOT faster than the three-round burst mode! Holy shit! I was frozen, looking down the sights just an inch away from the outside upper-right edge of the target. I slowly lowered the rifle, letting out the air in my lungs in a great big gush as I looked to see where my bullets had hit, and praying I hadn't missed the target. Seven shots. All on the target. All _over_ the target, granted; but still _on_ it.

I couldn't help the grin that spread over my face at the small victory. I flipped the lever all the way down, powering the gun off, and turned to face Garkun. I'd never seen a bigger smile in my life. Then I noticed Grunt off to the side with the biggest, goofiest grin I'd ever had the pleasure of witnessing, and I burst into relieved laughter, which Garkun joined in on, the second he saw Grunt's face.

As the laughter died down, Garkun spoke up as he grinned broadly, with a hint of pride in his voice. "Good job, pyjak. Enjoy the gun."

I flushed, and shook my head. "I don't honestly want it, Garkun, but thanks. I just didn't want to clean it for the next month. I'm really not very comfortable shooting it, and I'm pretty sure that would be more of a hindrance than a help in battle." I smiled at him.

He smiled and nodded back. "Alright then pyjak, go practice with your shotgun for a while while I teach Grunt here a trick or two on the sparring mats."

I smiled and walked to the gun rack, replacing the rifle on its hooks, then drew my shotgun and headed to the close range targets. I stopped and watched the two krogans square off on the mats for a bit, until I heard Garkun's voice over the ruckus of clashing armor: "I don't hear any shots, pyjak!"

I grinned sheepishly and turned towards the range. Today, I almost felt normal, like this was all finally sinking in. Almost. Better than nothing, I thought, as I lined up my first shot.

Breathe in.

'BOOM!'

Breathe out.

Not bad. Not bad at all.


End file.
